Russian authorities agreed to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Thursday as part of a prisoner swap with the United States, American officials report. Gershkovich, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison last month for allegedly conducting espionage for the CIA, will be returned home alongside former US Marine Paul Whelan, who received an identical sentence on similar charges in 2020.
The surprise overnight release of the two American prisoners comes as part of a much larger multi-lateral prisoner swap between several countries, including Russia, the US, Germany, and several other NATO allies. The agreement has been described as the largest multi-county prisoner exchange since the Cold War, with 24 prisoners up for release.
The identities of the Russian prisoners being exchanged have not been disclosed.
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As Valuetainment previously reported, Evan Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 while reporting on a defense company in the city of Yekaterinburg, with Russia accusing him of spying on a tank factory for the CIA. He is now the first American journalist to be incarcerated for espionage in Russia since the Cold War.
Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia while attending a friend’s wedding, has accused President Joe Biden of a “serious betrayal” for allowing him to remain in prison for more than four years. During the last prisoner exchange with Russia in 2022, the US traded notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, aka “The Merchant of Death,” for women’s basketball player Brittney Griner, who was arrested for possessing trace amounts of cannabis oil. Whelan was not included in this deal despite being sentenced on far more serious charges, saying that his own government “basically abandoned me here.”
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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